Having reflected, observed and identified the behaviours or habits you want to get better at to optimise your impact, you must be itching to put them into practice. So why not start now?
Today is as good a day as any to tackle our second "P", Practicing positive impact.
When you start practicing new habits they may feel unfamiliar and scary, bite size doesn’t mean unchallenging. But don’t let this stop you. Remember how we said with change comes friction? We could also add change = fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure. This can be overcome by experimenting, practicing, getting familiar with whatever it is, until it is no longer unknown.
In leadership, practice makes better (not perfect). Leadership is a practice, not a perfect. And practice builds confidence, brings progress and with progress celebration and satisfaction, and we can pretty much guarantee, positive impact.
Practice and experimentation also allow for failure or revision and tweaking of your leadership impact where needed. And when you’re working on having more positive impact, you’d better be ready for revision and tweaking as not making any changes could send you in the wrong direction. This is where measuring progress will come into play, but more on that later.
For now, let’s consider what is going to make your practice practical if you allow me the reiteration. It is in fact reiteration that we recommend. Practice, practice, practice is about doing something, no matter how little, how inconsequential it may seem at first, often, constantly, with a rhythm that becomes so engrained that it’ll feel easy, familiar, addictive even. And with that familiarity and habitual practice, become real, authentic and deeply rooted.
Building an identity that exudes positive impact can only come from having very authentic, familiar and rooted behaviours. A façade, a taken-on persona, will not cut it.
So, pick one thing and start.
What is it going to be? A new way of communicating through different conversations? Letting go and empowering your people to let them fly? Creating space and a routine for giving and receiving feedback? Or a habit of connecting, listening, empathising? Whatever your chosen area to make changes in start and stick with it. As James Clear puts it:
📝 Your 1st blog post will be bad, but your 1000th will be great. ✅
🏋♀️ Your 1st workout will be weak, but your 1000th will be strong. ✅
🧘♂️ Your 1st meditation will be scattered, but your 1000th will be focussed. ✅
Put in your reps!
You’re building your leadership muscle 💪. You’re developing bigger, better, more positive impact. It won’t happen in a day. It will take time, it will take persistence, it’ll take practice.
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